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Lawyers from Torys and Davies, two of the largest business law firms in the country, are used to being on opposite sides of the boardroom table, fighting to get the best deal for their clients.

Once a year, they take that fight — okay, it’s more like a friendly rivalry — to the streets, and this time their clients are children with cancer.

Seventeen Torys runners will take on at least 20 from Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg in a race down Yonge Street as part of Sunday’s
Sporting Life 10K
to raise money for
Camp Oochigeas
. That Muskoka summer camp and the year-long program at Sick Kids hospital and a downtown Toronto facility are just about the only bright spots in the lives of children undergoing cancer treatment.

Before the race even begins, Torys will have a commanding lead with partner Jamie Scarlett having raised $28,000 for Camp Ooch this year. That’s more than all the lawyers at Davies combined.

But Davies has history on its side with Jim Bunting and others having dreamed up
the industry challenge
in the first place. That’s where a wide variety of companies egg each other on to raise the most funds. Started in 2008, the industry challenge raised $2.5 million in its first five years.

“Last year, he had some feeble excuse about running with his wife because it’s Mother’s Day. He’s a complete wimp. You can quote me,” adds Scarlett, whose 10K personal best of 42 minutes and change won’t challenge the world record but is awfully speedy for a 59-year-old.

Bunting, not surprisingly, has a different story.

“The last time I ran, I actually beat him quite handily,” says Bunting, whose PB is 43:00-ish.

“Jamie is really old. You can quote me on that,” said the 36-year-old litigator. “But Jamie is actually very fast, so I have to make sure I’m ready if I’m going to race him.”

Scarlett’s speed and extensive fundraising stem from a personal connection to the cause. His first wife, Debbie, died of thyroid cancer in 2007.

“I run hard because I’m competitive and because I think if I’m doing this in honour of Debbie I should work at it. I should not take it easy,” he says.

As Scarlett puts it, he’s been around a while and knows a lot of the people making it possible for him to raise large sums. But runners without those connections can still make an enormous difference by raising even $100. If each of the 27,000 runners in Sunday’s race did that, they’d blow right by their fundraising target of $2.4 million.

When a doctor gives a child a lollipop after being stoic, or not, during their vaccination shot they are trying to mitigate the bad with some good. Camp Ooch is that times a million. It’s a place where kids can have the childhood experiences that cancer too often robs them of. If necessary, they can continue chemotherapy between canoeing and gathering around the campfire.

It costs roughly $3,500 to send a kid to summer camp for two weeks. That’s why — type-A personality notwithstanding — Scarlett would love for someone to come along and knock him out of top spot in the industry challenge.

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